Can we get an update on Roger please?
Is he back home yet?
Layla,
I visited Roger yesterday. He's doing better, although he had a slight set back. He's back in the hospital due to a fall. Melanie said he tried to get up out of his wheelchair on his own and unattended. He bruised his left hip and incurred a slight brain bleed. A follow up CT scan showed the bleeding has stopped.
The good news is that they have removed the trach and his throat is closing up nicely. His voice sounds normal when he speaks. Roger is quite fidgety, and busy. He was constantly undoing the straps that secure him in his chair and kept wanting to get up. I spent most of my visit securing the belts as fast as he was undoing them. In bed he kept swinging his legs over the edge trying to get up. In the chair he kept trying to stand. The staff said if he continued like this they would put "mittens" on his hands so he couldn't undo the belts.
He is still on semi solid food. His meals consist of pureed meals and thickened water and juice. He still has a stomach tube to supplement his caloric intake. We were encouraging him to eat more as he has lost a lot of weight. However Roger was not interested in food, and was really focused on trying to get up.
His long term memory is good in some areas as he knew my name and recognized me. He also knew that he was in Sacramento. However we kept having to remind him that he was in an accident and was recovering. There is some short term confusion as he kept mistaking the closet for a bathroom even though we showed him several times.
Now that the trach is out and he is no longer tethered to oxygen Melanie will again request for a transfer back closer to her. I plan on visiting Roger again next weekend. It is hoped they will have allowed him to be moved, and he will be closer.
Mark